1. I will be visiting an ethnic food store that is located about 5 minutes from the school. It is called Babylon Foods. It is a grocery store that specializes in Middle Eastern and Arabic foods. I choose to come here because I have large Chaldean population in my class (nearly a third) and I would like to see what options their families have to experience their native food where they live now. I also think it would be beneficial and informative for me to see the types of food they like to eat. These things could help me understand the culture a little bit more.
2. I am expecting to see a large Chaldean population shopping there. I can’t imagine that this specialty store will have a large variety of different ethnic groups shopping there but I’ll just have to wait and see. I am expecting to see and learn about the different types of foods that the Middle Eastern population enjoy. I will be purchasing some of the “more common” foods (as informed by the workers) to try at home. I am hoping this will give me more insight towards their culture and will give me some talking points to ask my students about. I am also hoping that I hear some people speaking Chaldean. The language is very interesting to me and I would love to have the opportunity to hear the native language.
3. Since I have not visited this place yet (will be going their within the next couple of days) I cannot answer whether my expectations/assumptions were confirmed or disconfirmed yet.
4. I am hoping that this will give me insight on the types of literacy this particular ethnic group is introduced to. I am wondering if the products that they buy have the Chaldean and English languages represented on the packaging or if it is primarily one or the other. I am also curious if they read the same (directionality, return sweep the same way, etc). I know that some languages read from bottom of the page to the top and right to left. This will give me an indication of the type of literacy the children experience at home (considering a great deal of my students speaks Chaldean or a different language other than English at home). It will help me to know where I need to give additional literacy support to these children.
Task 4- After community visit
o What did you notice?
The majority of the people at the ethnic food store were Chaldean or Arabic. The items sold at the store really catered to this population of people. Every label in the store was written in English as well as Arabic. I noticed that I stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone was staring at Katie and me and talking about us in their native language. I also noticed how busy the store was. It was a small store but had a large following of patron customers.
o What surprised you? What didn't surprise you?
It was very interesting to be in a situation where you are the minority ethnicity. It really gave Katie and me the sense of being an “outsider” within their small community of shoppers. I was surprised by the reaction of one of the workers when we were taking pictures of some of the products. He initially thought that we worked for someone who was paying us for the pictures. He seemed very alarmed and guarded. When we explained that we were interns who worked at Maple Elementary, the man warmed up to us a little more and informed us that if we needed any help to let him know. I was also very surprised by another employee. He was very helpful and took the time to answer all of our questions and tell us some interesting things about his culture.
o How has this community experience helped you learn about your school, students, and families?
It really taught me a lot about the Chaldean ethnicity. A great deal of my first graders are Chaldean. It was very interesting to be put into a situation that they had mostly likely been in several times over their life; the feeling of being an outcast. I felt a little overwhelmed when I was unable to understand what most of the people around us were saying. It really made me relate to how my students’ must have felt the first time they came to school and couldn’t understand their classmates speaking English (most of my students are ESL). While at this store, I purchased a few items to experience some of the traditional food that my students eat. It was very interesting and exciting to try something new. Although, it was even more exciting when I told my students about the foods I tried and could really connect with them.
o How will this experience help you in your teaching?
This experience really opened my eyes to the diverse ethnicities that are present in my classroom. I would really like to have the opportunity to learn more about the different traditions and cultures of my students. I may try and use these differences as a positive to allow all of my students to gain valuable insight about the special dynamics of our classroom culture. It also makes me more aware of the special circumstances that ESL students may need. I have more of an appreciation for the ESL students because I know how frustrating it must have been to come to this school for the first time and not understand anyone around you.
o How will it influence your thinking about your students' as literacy users and learners?
This experience has made me consider new literacy techniques that could be utilized that assist our ESL students. I’m realizing that not all of my ESL students learn in the same way and that I may need to be more creative to adapt strategies that accommodate for those students who struggle with literacy due to being bilingual. I may want to talk with my CT about new strategies that I could work on when I become more involved in the classroom instruction. Using as many senses to introduce lessons could be one way to accommodate my ESL learners. I definitely have some thinking and exploring to do.
Kristen
ReplyDeleteI found it really interesting how you narrowed in on looking at one specific ethnicity and culture that is highly represented in your classroom population. Not having any ESL learners in my classroom, I did not think about narrowing in on one and looking at their type of literacies. When I was searching my community, I was thinking of the different types of literacies that were evident, such as, visual, spatial, and political literacies. I had never stopped to think about the different literacies that my learners would know based upon their first language. Thus, when you mentioned that you wanted to go to the grocery store to see if things were labeled in both Chaldean and English, it really hit me that those are important things to note, especially for an ESL learner. Furthermore, the directionality of print would be a big factor, especially for those younger learners who are just beginning to learn about the concepts of print. Thus, I really want to reflect back onto my community and think about places in my area of Walled Lake that are dominated by a specific culture and see how the literacy is represented there compared to the more common downtown areas. I furthermore really liked how you didn’t just focus in on the literacy that you thought you would witness, but also on the different types of cultural elements of your learners. I found it really important that you want to go to a grocery store, a prominent place in the lives of all learners, and taste some of the Chaldean food. Food is such an essential portion of all cultures, and it really does reflect a lot about a culture’s dynamics. In trying to reach out and learn more about the culture of some of your learners, I feel you are going to really learn a lot about where your learners are coming from. I am curious to find out, not only about the types of written literacy that you see, but also the types of visual literacy and social literacy that you see take place.
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ReplyDeleteI wonder if the formalities of conversation are different, or if there is a lot of switching between Chaldean and English. It would also interest me to see if a lot of ethnicities are present there or if it is really dominated by the Chaldean culture. I feel as though all of these other factors would be reflective of the community as a whole also. Furthermore, since you seem to have more cultural grocery stores and places prevalent, do you have any areas of the community where a lot of the cultures come together? In that way, I am wondering how literacy is displayed, both in the oral discourse that takes place and also in the written literacy that is found. I didn’t even think about this as I toured my community. The learners at Walled Lake Elementary are very high in diversity, though the community does not, from face value, reflect that. All of the stores signs are in English, and there are no cultural restaurants or places on any of the main roads. I saw very little diversity within the places that I saw. Thinking on this now, that comes as a major surprise to me, since there are so many different diversities represented and so many languages. That as me thinking, I am curious to see what types of literacies my ESL learners gain from the community compared to those learners whose first language is English. It would be also interesting to see if different cultures foster or emphasize different types of literacies, for example, if the Chaldean culture focuses more on symbols or on written text. I think it would also be interesting to take a look at all of the different families and have home visits with the families, like Compton-Lilly did in her article, Listening to Families over Time: Seven Lessons Learned about Literacy in Families. From the visits, it would be interesting to see the emphasis and importance placed, by the families, on literacy. I wonder if different cultures or languages believe in a different component of literacy more, for example, writing over speaking, or if there is a difference in the amount they believe their child should spend on literacy, in a day, in the classroom. In conclusion, I really enjoyed the way you chose to explore your community and it has opened so many questions that I want to investigate, both in my community and with my learners, about the differences in literacy learning.